Lean on me
by ankaz123
Summary: Shannon and Lawson are married with a five year old daughter. What happens that could endanger their family.
1. Chapter 1

**Lean on me**

Chapter 1:

"Bella! Get down here and eat your breakfast, you don't want to be late for your first day of school do you" Shannon called up the stairs.

Shannon went back to the kitchen and continued making her daughters lunch. She looked towards the stair case and saw her husband coming down the stair, carrying their 5 year old daughter, Arabella. She was dressed in her blue school uniform with a blue ribbon in her fair hair.

"Sorry mum" Lawson said in a playful tone "we were just getting ready, weren't we Bell's" he added looking at his daughter who just nodded and smiled proudly.

"Do you like my ribbon Mummy?" Bella asked, pointing to her hair "Daddy did it for me; he said I have to look pretty for my first day at school".

"Did he now?" Shannon asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband with a smile.

"Of course" Lawson replied, gently putting his daughter on the ground and watching her run to the table where her breakfast was waiting for her. He turned back to his wife and came up behind her, placing his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"But both my girls are already hot" he whispered in her ear. Shannon giggled as she turned around and wrapped her arms around Lawson neck, pulling him closer and planting a loving kiss on his lips. They broke apart and Lawson took a sip of coffee from the cup that was sitting waiting for him on the bench top. Shannon walked over to Bella and wiped the jam off her mouth as she finished her toast. Lawson was standing in the kitchen, flicking through the newspaper, sipping his coffee.

"Lawson! Hurry get changed, we gotta drop Bella off before you go into work" Shannon scolded him as she packed Bella's lunch box into her backpack.

Lawson was still in the Tactical response team as was Shannon but they were in different teams and took different shifts so that at least one of them could be with Bella at all times. She and Lawson had married six years ago. They had first met when they were both working in general duties at a station in St Kilda, they had almost forgotten about each other but then Shannon was transferred to Tactical Response. Their chemistry was undeniable and before they knew it, they were married. A year later, Bella was born. Arabella had her father's fair hair but Shannon's sparkling blue eyes. She wasn't shy or quiet but not loud and naughty either. She was always interested in new things and liked drawing or having Lawson read her bedtime stories.

"Alright alright" Lawson replied, quickly gulping the last of his coffee before disappearing upstairs to get dressed. In the meantime, Shannon was putting Bella's shoes on and getting Bella prepared for her big day. However, surprisingly, Bella was quite calm and excited. She didn't seem nervous or upset.

"There you go" Shannon said as she finished tying the shoelaces. She looked up into her daughter bright blue eyes, which Bella had inherited from her.

"Are you excited?" Shannon asked smiling. She helped Bella put her bag on her back.

"Yeah" Bella replied nodding enthusiastically.

"Of course she is" Lawson added, running down the stairs, buttoning his shirt as he went. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he stopped to tuck the blue police shirt into his dark blue pants and do up his belt.

"Daaaad" Bella whined, "we are gonna be late".

Lawson just laughed as he grabbed his bag and stuffed his keys and phone in it. Eventually they were all ready and got into the car. As they pulled up to the school, Shannon help Bella out of her seat and took her hand as they walked towards the classroom. There were lots of parents standing around, many with tears in their eyes. Shannon looked around and saw that many of the children also looked excited and happy, rather than scared and nervous; however it didn't take her long to spot the crying kids. They had to wait for the bell to ring and as they waited, many of the parents glanced at Lawson police uniform with interest. He just smiled gently back at them and followed his wife and daughter as they walked towards the kindergarten classrooms.

Eventually they bell rang, Shannon bent down so that she was eye level with her daughter.

"You're going to have fun ok?" Shannon reassured her daughter, cupping her small face in her hands and rubbing her cheeks gently. "You're going to do lots of fun things and then after school, I'll come and get you and you can tell me everything, ok?"

Bella just nodded and smiled. Lawson picked up his daughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead and hugged her.

"You're gonna have an _awesome _time ok sweetie?" Lawson told her.

Bella nodded again and gave her dad a hug back.

Lawson placed Bella back on the ground and Shannon gave her daughter one last kiss before Bella headed for the classroom door. Before she stepped inside, Bella turned back and waved to her parents, a wide smile pasted on her face.

Lawson placed an arm around Shannon waist and they both waved back to their daughter.

**This chapter is just an introduction; there will be more action in the next chapters. Please tell me what you think of my newest story….please review****‼**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

**I was soo happy to see that so many people already read and reviewed my first chapter. Thanks heaps guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter too, sorry it's so long, but I wanted to end on a good cliffhanger. Please remember to review****‼**

Shannon continued to stare at the door which her daughter had disappeared through. It felt weird letting her daughter go into the care of someone else when it had been her looking after Bella all her life. All of a sudden she felt Lawson gently pulling on her hand.

"C'mon" he told her gently, pulling her away.

"Ok" she whispered, letting Lawson lead her away.

They both got into the car and Lawson started the engine.

"Do you want me to drop you at home?" he asked her.

"Um nah it's ok, I'll come with you, I've been meaning to say hello to Stella, and I keep missing her calls and stuff".

"Ok…sure" Lawson replied.

…..

They drove into the car park at the headquarters and were greeted by Stella and Christian, who were busy stocking the TR cars ready for the next shift.

"Hey stranger" Stella greeted Shannon and threw her arms around her in a welcoming hug.

Shannon returned the hug. "You alright?" Stella asked Shannon as they broke apart. "You seem down".

"Yeah, I'm fine" she replied, not sounding convinced herself.

Lawson grabbed his backpack and walked into the locker room, he opened his locker. He glanced at the photo of Bella, Shannon and himself at the park which was stuck onto the inside of his door. He smiled and continued to get ready. Just as he was about to put on his vest, Kerry walked in behind him.

"Morning Kerry" Lawson greeted her with a nod.

"Hey Lawson" she replied "hey is what's Shannon doing here? I didn't think she had a shift today? I just walked past her and Stella and she looked a little down, not her usual self, everything alright?".

"Nah, she not working today, has a day off but we just dropped Bella off at her first day of school. Shannon's just missing her I guess, I am too".

Kerry just nodded and gave an understanding smile before turning and leaving, walking towards the Intel room. Lawson closed his locker and door and was greet by Josh who had just walked in, after coming from having a shower.

"Hey mate" Josh greeted him.

"Hey" Lawson replied "how was last night with Melissa?" he asked smiling.

Melissa was Josh's girlfriend, they had been going out for a few months now and Josh was really happy being with her.

"Yeah it was good" Josh replied happily "we had dinner and watched a movie together….it was nice".

"That's great mate, I'm happy for you".

"How's Bella? I remembered that today was her first day at school".

"She seems good when we left this morning. She was excited and smiling so that a good sign but Shannon's is missing her quite a lot".

They finished getting changed and walked back to the cars where the Stella, Michael and Christian were waiting for them.

"I'll see you later Stell" Shannon said to her friend, giving her a hug before Stella jumped in the car.

"You ok?" Lawson asked his wife once again, putting on hand on her should, giving it a gentle squeeze and looking deep in her blue eyes with concern.

"Lawson!" she said smiling "Stop worrying! I'm fine, I was a little upset before but I'm ok now, Stella cheered me up".

"Ok, I'll see you tonight?" Lawson asked.

"Yep, me and Bell's will pick you up at 6; she can tell you all about her first day".

"Looking forward to it" Lawson grinned, giving his wife a kiss on the lips before jumping into the car. Christian started the engine and they drove off.

Shannon sighed and walked back to her car. She decided she was going to the market to pick up something to make for dinner. She glanced at her watch.

Still 5 hours before she had to pick up Bella. It was going to be a long day.

….

Lawson couldn't help but stare out the window into empty space as TR2 drove through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on their patrol.

"Didn't your wife once say that if you stare at the window for too long, it will crack?" Stella asked with a laugh.

Lawson looked over at her. It took him a second to register what she had just said but after a second he just laughed.

"Yeah yeah I know" he said.

"Something on your mind Lawson?" Christian asked glancing over at him.

"Nah it's just Bella's first day at school, I'm just thinking about how she is going".

"Lawson, I'm sure she's fine!" Stella told him "Shannon told me that Bella was really excited about school, she's probably having heaps of fun, while you're here worrying and brooding".

"Yeah your right" Lawson said with a sigh.

"I know what will cheer you up" she said playfully.

"What?" Lawson and Christian asked together.

"Michael and I got together" she said triumphantly with a happy smile.

"What?" Lawson asked in disbelief.

For the past few years, Stella and Michael had been having an on/off relationship. They were always flirting and going out together after shifts. Everyone at headquarters knew about their 'secret' relationship and it was a matter of time before they got together.

"About time" Lawson said smiling, happy for his two colleagues.

"How did this happen?" Christian asked intrigued, glancing at Stella through the rear-view window.

"That's my business" Stella replied cheekily with a huge grin "all you need to know is that we are together".

"_TR can you please respond to an armed robbery in progress at the Kingston Hotel on Richard St, North Melbourne, possible hostages" _the radio interrupted them .

"VKC, TR2 responding" Lawson said into the radio, "we are…." Christian held up three fingers "3 minutes away".

"Josh" Lawson instructed into the radio on his vest "get your butts over there"

"_On it Lawson" _came Josh's reply. _"We are 10 away, you'll get there first"_

"Rodger that"

"Leon, see if you can get that CCTV inside the pub and let us know what we are in for" Lawson instructed into his coms.

"_Onto it Lawson, when I get the footage I'll let you know". _

As Christian turned the corner into Richard Street, Lawson switched off the sirens and lights and directed Christian to stop a few metres down the road, on the other side, opposite the pub. They all got out quietly and went to the back of their car, opened the boot and changed into their bulletproof vests.

"Leon, we're going to need uniforms down here" Lawson said quietly in his coms. "But make sure you tell them to approach without sirens and light, we don't want to scare whoever is in there, we don't know what could happen. Oh and make sure you tell Kerry about this, I think we might also need her down here".

"_Rodger that" _Leon replied.

Lawson turned back to face Stella and Christian who were standing behind the car with their weapons drawn. Suddenly TR1 came from around the corner, also without sirens and lights. They pulled up directly behind TR2 and jumped out, when they had put on their vests. They walked up to Lawson and his team.

"What's going on?" josh asked.

"Dunno yet" Lawson replied "I'm waiting for Leon to send me the CCTV footage of inside, I need to know who and what I'm dealing with before I send anyone in there".

"_I've got that footage for you Lawson" _Leon's voice said into his earpiece. _"There are two offenders, one with a rifle and another one with a crossbow. There seem to be five people hostage inside" _Leon explained as Lawson watched the footage, the people were sitting, lined up against the wall with their hands tied behind their backs. A man was pacing in front of them pointing a rifle.

"Ok, Leon, I need you to organise these streets to be closed and the few surrounding houses cleared"

"_Ok Lawson" _Leon replied _"but you might want to know this, one of the offenders is Robert Farrington". _

Stella and Christian couldn't help but gasp in surprise and look at Lawson to see his reaction.

Robert Farrington was a notorious criminal. He liked doing armed robberies and he was damn good at them. He didn't care who he had to hurt to get his money. Two police officers had been shot the last time Robert tried robbing a bank. One of them couldn't go back to being a cop because his injuries were too severe. Robert always had an accomplice who he left behind to take the fall, while he disappeared into thin air with huge amounts of money.

"Ok thanks Leon" Lawson replied quickly.

"Stella, you and Christian go around the front and try to get some camera going, but make sure you aren't seen"

The pair nodded and set off with their weapons ready in front of them.

"Josh and Michael each take a side of the building and look for any other points of entry, I'll go straight to the back and meet you there".

Josh and Michael nodded and went off while Lawson quickly ran around to the back of the building.

Josh was walking quietly along the wall of the building when he saw a window about a metre above his head. There were no other doors and this looked like the only way to get in apart from the front door.

"Lawson" Josh said into his coms "I've found a window about a metre above me, but other than that I haven't found any other ways to get in"

"_Ok, copy….." _suddenly a loud gunshot rang out, it sounded like it came from the back of the building.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**I know it's been a while since I last updated but I hope you enjoy it and please remember to review****‼**

Josh ran to the back of the building and found a man with a balaclava on standing over an unconscious Lawson. Josh could see that he had been shot in the stomach and was bleeding heavily.

"Hey" Josh shouted angrily at the masked man just as Stella, Christian and Michael ran up to the scene.

The man looked up at Josh and the rest of the team before dropping the gun which he had used to shoot Lawson and fleeing.

"Get after him" Josh shouted to Stella and Michael as he crouched down next to his mate and started to put pressure on his wound.

"Get the med kit" Josh instructed Christian who just nodded and ran off towards the car.

"Leon we need an ambo NOW"

"_It's on its way Josh" _Leon replied _"I've sent extra uniform and Kerry is on her way too" _

"Hang on mate" Josh told Lawson determinedly "do it for Shannon and Bella, they NEED you! Just stay with me" he pleaded.

Suddenly the sound of sirens filled the air.

…..

Shannon was sitting at home on the couch staring into empty space as she clung onto her mug of coffee.

She had gone shopping and bought everything for dinner and in about 10 minutes she had to go pick up Bella. She was looking forward to seeing her daughter again; she wanted to hear all about her first day at school.

Suddenly she heard her mobile ring and snapped out of her daydream to go answer it.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Shannon? Hey its Kerry…"

"Oh hi Kerry" Shannon replied quickly "wasn't expecting a call from you".

"Yeah I know" Kerry said, "Listen I need to talk to you….have you picked up Arabella yet?"

"Um no, I was about to leave in a few minutes, I'm still at home….why?" she asked getting interested.

"Um, when you pick Arabella up" Kerry said slowly "you need to come to the hospital".

Shannon felt the fear come and punch her in the stomach, she had always been scared of this day. "Why?" she asked but was afraid to hear the answer.

"Lawson's been shot"

Shannon felt her whole world crash down around her. She just hung up the phone and stood frozen to the spot.

"What if he dies?" she couldn't help but think immediately.

It took her a moment to snap out of it after she realised she needed to get to Lawson. She quickly grabbed her keys and rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

She tried to fight back the tears as she drove to the school. She didn't want to scare Bella and she knew she had to be strong for Lawson as well.

She quickly parked the car and power walked through the gates towards the kindergarten rooms. As she briskly walked, the bell went and she saw all the kindy kids rushing out the door. Bella spotted her mother and ran up to her.

Shannon saw her daughter coming and knelt down. As Bella ran into her arms, Shannon picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Mummy Mummy" Bella cried with a huge smile on her face "I had the _best _day" she said as Shannon placed Bella back on the ground, took her hand and started to lead her towards the car.

"We drew and painted and I met all the other girls in my class" she explained happily. Shannon knew that she should have been excited and listening intently but all she could think about was Lawson lying in some hospital bed or even operating table with gunshot wounds.

"Are we going home?" Bella asked cheerfully, looking up at her mum. "I wanna ring Daddy and tell him all about today"

"No sweetie" Shannon replied, forcing some kind of smile "we need to stop somewhere first".

…..

Shannon and Bella arrived at the hospital and Shannon went straight to the information desk. She was told that Lawson was on the third floor in ICU.

Shannon picked up Bella and as they exited the lift on the ICU floor, she stopped Kerry sitting on one of the chairs, with her face in her hands. Sitting next to her were Stella and Christian who looked sombre and worried.

She quickly walked over to them. "Where is he?" she asked desperately.

Kerry looked up at Shannon with a surprised face before it settled back into fatigue and worry.

"What happened?" Shannon asked again, her voice getting louder and starting to quiver.

Bella sensed the change in her mother's tone and grasping Shannon's neck harder.

"Mum" she mumbled "what's going on?"

"C'mon Bell's" Stella interrupted "let's go get an ice cream, you can tell me all about your first day if you like. Christian can come with us".

Shannon gave Stella an appreciative nod as she gave Bella to Stella and turned back to Kerry with a worried look.

"Sit down" Kerry gently instructed her.

"Where is he?" Shannon asked again anxiously, sitting down. "What happened out there?"

"It was a pub hold up" Kerry started to explain "they were looking for any other entry points into the building. Lawson had gone around the back. Next thing you hear is a gunshot and when Josh found him, some guy was standing over him, he took off and Josh needed to assist Lawson so they couldn't catch him. Lawson was shot in the stomach Shannon".

Shannon couldn't say anything; she was just too shocked and scared to react. She felt a tear she had tried so hard to hold in escape and run down her cheek. "Where is he?" she repeated numbly.

"The doctors had to rush him to surgery, he was bleeding too heavily" Kerry replied, avoiding eye contact.

Shannon nodded in replied and leaned forward burying her head in her hands. She couldn't hold it any longer and burst out in heavy sobs. She felt Kerry's hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. Shannon shot up and looked her boss in the eye.

"I need him so much Kerry" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

"I know" nodded Kerry.

Shannon swallowed deeply and wiped the remaining tears away.

"What now?" she asked.

"Now we wait".

**Hoped you enjoyed….review****‼**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

**Don't forget to review****‼****! **

Shannon was sitting in the hospital corridor staring down at the floor, her mind empty. She didn't know what to feel, what to think. Who was she without Lawson, the love of her life? "_Nothing". _Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Bella running down the corridor towards her mum. "_Bella"_ she thought, "_Bella is important as well, she means everything to me, I'm also a mother, and I'll always be"_

As Bella ran up to her mum, Shannon picked her up and sat her precious daughter down in her lap.

Bella buried her head into her mother's chest and Shannon couldn't help but wrap her arms in around her daughter and hold her tight. She rested her chin gently on her Bella's head and closed her eyes. Shannon knew she had to stay strong for Bella's sake. She had to be strong enough for all of them. She slowly opened her eyes and loosened her grip on Bella.

"Mummy" Bella said, looking up at her mother with her wide blue eyes. "What's wrong with Daddy?" she asked.

Shannon forced a smile and tried to hold back the tears that were forming once again in her eyes.

"He's just a little sick" Shannon explained gently "that's why we are here, to see him and to tell him to get better".

Bella nodded "Will he be alright Mummy?" she asked, concerned.

"I hope so" Shannon whispered as another tear escaped and ran down her cheeks. Shannon just hugged her daughter tightly again.

…

Shannon sat next to Kerry with Bella sleeping in her lap. Stella had gone to get coffee and Josh had gone back to the station to make a statement about the guy who had shot Lawson. Christian had gotten a call from his wife and had to go home. Stella returned with the coffees and handed one to Shannon who just gave her friend a tight smile in thanks.

"Hey why don't I take Bella home?" Stella suggested gently "she can get changed and go to sleep in her bed, she's had a long day. I'll stay at your house with her until there is news".

Shannon nodded "ok thanks Stell, she shouldn't be here when the doctor comes out". She gently shook Bella awake. "Hey Bells" she said quietly "Stella is gonna take you home ok? I'm gonna stay here a little longer and wait for Daddy, ok?"

Bella just nodded sleepily and immediately fell asleep as soon as Stella took her into her arms.

Shannon thanked her friend and sat back down next to Kerry, sighing deeply, rubbing her face with her hands.

Suddenly a female doctor came out of the swinging door and headed for Kerry.

"Oh Doctor Ling" Kerry stood and acknowledged the doctor as she stopped in front of Shannon and her boss. "This is Shannon Blake, Lawson wife" Kerry explained.

Dr Ling shot Shannon a brief smile before her face went serious again.

"How is he?" Shannon couldn't help but blurt.

"He had serious and heavy bleeding from his stomach, we had to rush him to surgery" Dr Ling explained "when we opened him up, we found internal bleeding".

"Oh my God" Shannon exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair.

"But everything fine now" Dr Ling continued quickly "we managed to stop the bleeding and get the bullet out"

"So where is he now? Can I see him?" Shannon desperately asked.

"He's in the ICU, we are going to keep him here for about a week or so for observation and we'll take it from there" Dr Ling told Shannon "you can go in a see him but we needed to put him into an induced coma so we don't know exactly when he will wake up, probably sometime today or even tomorrow".

"But he'll be fine after he wakes up?"

"We'll see what happens after he wakes up but yes, for now the outcome looks good, he should be fine" Dr Ling said and directed them to the ICU bed Lawson was in. She gave them a smile and left them.

"I'll wait outside, you go in" Kerry told Shannon.

"Thanks" Shannon replied. She took a deep breath and entered the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Lawson was lying on the hospital bed in the ICU room. As Shannon took a few more steps forward, she stopped and looked at her husband. He had tubes and needles coming out of his arms and hands and he was hooked up to a ventilator which was coming out of his mouth, helping his breathe. He was pale and looked weak. Shannon looked down at his abdomen and saw a small bump, obviously the bandages covering his wound. She walked up to his bedside and took his hand, giving it a rub. She leant down and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"I love you" she whispered into his ear "I'll love you forever…..please wake up…..I need you…_Bella_ needs you!"

Shannon pulled the nearest chair and sat down next to Lawson, she sat with him for a few minutes, just watching him lying there and listening to the sound of the ventilator working, taking each breath for her husband. She still couldn't believe all this had happened.

Then she remembered that Kerry was sitting outside waiting. She reluctantly let go of Lawson's hand and walked back out into the corridor where Kerry was sitting and waiting.

"How is he?" she asked when she saw Shannon.

"Not good" Shannon replied sitting down opposite Kerry. "I can't stand this Kerry" she exclaimed "I can't stand seeing him hooked up to all those machines, I can't believe that the strong and brave man _I love_ is lying in there is a machine _breathing_ for him".

"I know Shannon I know" Kerry replied sympathetically walking over and sitting next to Shannon. "But you've just got to be strong for both him and Bella. Lawson will be fine but he needs you to be there for him".

"Ok…thanks Kerry…..for everything" Shannon said, looking at her boss with a grateful smile.

"Look why don't you go home, get some sleep, be with Bella" Kerry suggested. "You can come back in the morning and see Lawson, if anything happens during the night, I'll make sure they let you know"

Shannon reluctantly agreed and promised Kerry to tell the staff to ring her the moment anything happened.

….

As Shannon drove into her driveway, she saw Stella's car parked on the street outside. She opened the front door and walked inside.

She had just realised how empty the house felt, Lawson would usually be home by now, putting Bella to bed, reading her a story and tucking her in, everything felt different and weird without Lawson there with her.

She glanced at Stella who was sleeping on the lounge and smiled. Shannon felt really grateful to have such as great friend like Stella. She went to the linen cupboard, pulled out a blanket and covered Stella with it. Then she quietly went upstairs and peaked into Bella's room, who was fast asleep. Shannon herself felt knackered and went into her bedroom. _The bedroom she shared with her husband_. When she opened the door and stepped inside, she felt empty and hollow. Slowly, she got changed into her pyjamas and climbed into her bed, burying herself under the covers and trying to fall asleep.

…..

Shannon woke up slowly and looked at her alarm clock. _6:45 Am._ She yawned and stretched, expecting her hand to bump into Lawson but there was only empty space. She lay there for a second, and remembered everything that had happened yesterday. She had expected to wake up and find out it was all a bad dream but she was knew that it was true.

She eventually got out of bed and wrapped her dressing gown around her. She peeked into Bella's room and saw that her daughter was beginning to stir. Shannon went inside and sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Bella.

"Hey sweetie" Shannon said, giving her daughter a gentle shake to wake her up.

"Mummy!" Bella exclaimed and gave her mum a hug. "Why didn't Daddy tuck me in last night?" she asked.

"Daddy's at the hospital, remember?"

"Is he better?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"I dunno Sweetie, but I was just about to go to the hospital. Do you want to come with me?"

"What about school Mum? I don't want to miss anything".

"Do you want to go to school today? Because if you do, I can come pick you up after school and you can see Daddy then. Sound ok?"

"Ok" Bella agreed, nodding with a smile. Shannon could tell she was excited about school.

"Well let's go downstairs and wake Aunty Stella up, then we can get dressed, have some breakfast and I'll drop you off at school".

Bella jumped out of bed and ran ahead of Shannon downstairs. Shannon couldn't help but smile, she was so lucky to have Bella in her life; her daughter was the only one keeping her sane at a time like this.

Shannon made her way downstairs to find Stella slowing sitting up on the couch, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Morning" Shannon greeted her friend.

"Oh morning" Stella said, her eyes going a little wide. "So sorry for crashing here unexpectedly" she apologised "I didn't even realise that I fell asleep".

Shannon shook her head and smiled "don't worry about it" she said, making her way to the kitchen and turning on the kettle. "Thanks for taking care of Bella" she said, looking at her friend.

"Yeah that's fine, we had fun" Stella laughed as she made her way into the kitchen to join her friend. "How's Lawson?" she asked, her face turning serious with concern.

"I'm going to go to the hospital after I drop Bella off" Shannon explained. "He was the same when I left him last night. Still in the coma but stable".

"Oh right" Stella nodded "how's Bella taking it?" she asked, turning and glancing at the little girl who was sitting on the lounge, watching cartoons.

"She seems ok" Shannon replied, placing a mug of steaming coffee in front of her friend "of course she's concerned and she asks where Lawson is, but otherwise she is taking it well".

"That's good" Stella said, flashing a brief smile "I never imagined that _Lawson _would be the one lying in a hospital bed in a coma." Stella said, looking blankly at the coffee mug in front of her. "Sure he could be a dickhead, obsessive and downright annoying sometimes, but he was _never_ reckless and he was a good leader. I never thought that he would be _shot, _that he would be fighting for his life in surgery".

"I know" Shannon whispered, a tear forming in her eyes.

Stella looked up at her friend in concern and saw the tears. She stood up and went over to her friend, pulling her into a supportive hug. Shannon, feeling the comfort, let the tears loose.

"I just need him so much Stell" she quietly sobbed. "He _has_ to be alright".

"I know" Stella replied soothingly, rubbing Shannon's back. "He'll be fine Shan, Lawson might be an idiot, but he's a tough idiot and he'll beat this, you'll see".

Shannon sniffed and pulled away from her friend, giving her an appreciative smile.

"Thank you so much Stell" she smiled "for everything. You're a great friend".

Stella just smiled and pulled Shannon into another hug. When they broke apart, Shannon sniffled and wiped her eyes. Stella said goodbye and headed off back to her place for a shower and to get ready for work. She took Bella upstairs and got her dressed for school. She tied her daughter's hair into a neat ponytail and tied it with Lawson's ribbon. Shannon packed Bella's lunch and put it into the pink backpack.

"Bella" she called from the kitchen "time for school".

"Coming Mummy" she heard her daughter reply.

Shannon zipped up her daughters pack, grabbed her keys and walked out into the main hallway, waiting for her daughter. Finally Bella joined her; Shannon could tell she was hiding something behind her back.

"What's that you've got Bella?" she asked.

Bella gave her mother a guilty look and handed Shannon the paper she was holding. When Shannon saw it she realised it was a card and her face fell.

"It's a card for Daddy" Bella explained proudly. "I made it so that he can get better".

Shannon was lost for words. She didn't reply, she just stared at the card. Bella had drawn herself and both Shannon and Lawson, all holding hands. It had the words "_get better Daddy" _in big bright red written on the front, inside Bella had written a message. Shannon couldn't help but be overwhelmed by her daughters compassion.

"What's wrong Mummy?" Bella asked concerned by her mum's silence "don't you like it?"

"No baby" she replied, looking down at her daughter with glazed eyes "it's perfect; I think Daddy will love it".

"Can you give it to him?" Bella asked.

"How about I hang onto it and then this afternoon when you come to the hospital, you can give it to him".

"Ok" Bella grinned in agreement.

"Alright" Shannon said "let's go to school!"

"Yeah" Bella agreed with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Shannon walked up the hospital corridor on the floor where Lawson was. She had dropped Bella off at school and rushed to get to the hospital; she had missed Lawson last night and couldn't stop thinking about him. First, she walked up a nurse at the nurses' station and gave her a gentle smile.

"Hi" she greeted the nurse whose nametag read 'Melissa'. "My name is Shannon Blake, has my husband's condition changed?"

"Are you the wife of the police man who was shot?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah that's me? How is he? Is there any change?" Shannon asked curiously.

"He isn't awake yet, but there is more brain activity which is a good sign" Melissa explained sympathetically. "In fact the doctor is coming around in about half an hour so you can talk to him then, he will explain everything better than I can".

"Ok, thank you" Shannon gave the nurse a friendly thankful smile and walked into Lawson room. She walked in to see Lawson lying on the bed, exactly the same way as he had yesterday. Shannon couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment wash over her. She mentally hit herself for thinking that when she arrived this morning that Lawson would be sitting up in the bed, waiting and ready to smile at her when she walked through the door.

He was still lying in the bed, with the tube in his mouth and the heavy bandaging on his abdomen. She leant over and kissed him on the forehead. She gently took his hand, carefully avoiding the tubes and needles and gave it a small squeeze.

"Hey" she said softly, holding his hand "I'm back, I've missed you so much Lawson. Bella was wondering where you are and how you're going. I promised her that Daddy will be home soon and that he will alright. You've got to help me keep that promise" she instructed him.

Shannon pulled up a chair and sat down next to her husband. She glanced over him again and sighed deeply. She couldn't believe that Lawson had been shot. He was always the responsible one, the one who looked out for everyone else. Shannon remembered the time when she had been 8 months pregnant. She had made Lawson promise that he would always be careful at work now that they were going to have a child. He had to be there to look after his child with her. Lawson had joked about it at the time, but had agreed. He had brushed off her seriousness and just rested his hands on her pregnant belly.

Suddenly Shannon was brought out of her daydream by somebody tapping her on the shoulder.

"Mrs Blake" Dr Ling greeted her.

"Hi" Shannon replied "how is he?" she asked.

"Good actually" Dr Ling smiled leading Shannon outside the room into the corridor "even though he might not look it at the moment, there is more brain activity which suggests he is coming out of the coma".

"That's good right?"

"Of course. We expect him to be awake some time either tonight or tomorrow" the doctor explained.

"How long will it be until he can come home?" Shannon asked anxiously.

"Once he wakes up he'll have to stay in hospital for at least a week for observation. We will need to monitor his brain activity to make sure everything is ok after the surgery. We also need to look after his abdomen wound, make sure there is no infection or anything from the bullet" Dr Ling told Shannon carefully.

"How long until he can go back to work?"

"At least a month or two and even then it will have to be light duties for a while" the doctor explained with a smile.

"Don't worry ill make sure of it, there is always paperwork to do" Shannon laughed gently.

Suddenly there was beeping coming from inside Lawson room and a group of nurses rushed into the room with Dr Ling behind.

"Stay here" she quickly instructed Shannon.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

**Hey guys, I know it's been **_**FOREVER **_**since my last update but I've come back and I hope you like this new chapter! Please remember to review****‼**

Shannon watched dumbfounded as the doctor raced inside Lawson's room. A nearby nurse closed the door behind her.

Shannon walked up to the window next to the door, trying to peek through the slits of the blinds in an attempt to see what was happening to her husband.

She could hear the machines beeping loudly and the doctor talking with a raised voice.

She just wanted to know what was going on. She couldn't help but get a sinking feeling in her stomach. She walked slowly over the chair on the other side of the corridor and sank into it, feeling dizzy and sick.

A few minutes later, Dr Ling came out of the room and walked over to Shannon.

"What happened?" Shannon demanded, standing up to greet the doctor.

"Nothing bad" Dr Ling quickly replied, putting her hand up defensively.

"Then what was all that beeping in there" Shannon asked "it didn't sound good".

"Those machines were beeping because Lawson woke up" the doctor replied with a gentle smile.

Suddenly Shannon felt like a huge weight had been lifted, she free and excited. A happy tear rolled down her cheek.

"What?" Shannon managed to choke out.

Dr Ling let out a small chuckle "I said, your husband is awake. The machines were beeping because he woke up and was trying to pull the tube out of his throat."

"Is he alright?" Shannon asked.

"Yes he's fine" the doctor replied, still smiling "he asked for you and your daughter".

"Really? Can I see him?"

"Of course, but just be warned, his voice will be very hoarse because of the tube, he isn't used to talking just yet".

Shannon nodded and quickly headed for the door into Lawson's room.

Lawson was looking out the window at the bleak grey sky. When he heard her walk in, he turned his head and looked at her. He looked pale and he had dark circles underneath his eyes, but somehow he managed to give her a smile.

Shannon couldn't help but return the smile and slowly walk over to her husband. She bent down and gave Lawson a long and loving kiss and looked deeply into his blue eyes.

"Hey" Lawson whispered hoarsely to his wife, taking her hand.

"Hey" Shannon replied tearfully "I missed you so much, don't ever scare me like that again, Bella and I were so worried".

"I promise I won't" Lawson whispered in replied "how's my little girl? Where is she?"

"Bella's fine, she's at school. She is worried about you but she wanted to go to school and I thought that there is no point dragging her around the hospital and scaring her even more".

Lawson nodded and winced slightly as he leant back into his pillows.

"Are you ok?" Shannon asked gazing concerned and stroking Lawson forehead gently.

"Yep" he replied meekly, "just sore".

"Really? Should I call a nurse" Shannon asked worryingly, already turning. Lawson gently tugged her back and looked into her blue eyes.

"I'm fine" Lawson told her firmly "now sit down" he demanded with a chuckle.

Shannon gave her husband a smile and sat down in the chair next to his bed. She gently took his hand and rubbed it.

"What happened to me?" Lawson asked curiously.

Shannon's smile disappeared as quickly as it came and she looked away from her husband, down to his hand.

"You were shot" she replied quietly. Lawson could sense the change in her tone. He saw her eyes shine with tears. He gently squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile.

"You were attended an armed robbery" Shannon continued, her voice starting to quiver slightly "you went round the back of the pub and the gunman came out of nowhere and shot you"

"Wow" Lawson replied, turning and looking up at the ceiling.

"Josh said that the investigators think the guy shot you out of fear- that it was just instinct".

Lawson burst out in laugher. "I must have been pretty scary" he chuckled.

Shannon couldn't help but laugh to with tears running down her face. They giggled for a few seconds before Shannon's face went serious and she stood up again. She walked over to Lawson, bent down and kissed him.

"Just promise you won't do anything like that again- ok? I was scared shitless"

"Trust me- I'm not planning to go through that again" he replied smiling gently.

Shannon bent down and kissed him again. She turned around and sat down in the armchair near the window.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" she asked. "I can go get a nurse or something".

"I'm fine" Lawson confirmed with a slight nod.

"Ok" Shannon replied, returning the smile. She glanced at her watch. "It's nearly time for me to pick Bella up. I'll call Kerry and tell her that you're awake, she and the team will probably wanna swing by sometime".

"That's fine- but I want to see Bella first".

"Ok" Shannon replied "I'll bring her straight over" she said, standing up and swinging her bag over her shoulder. She walked over and planted a quick kiss on Lawson.

"I'll be right back- don't go anywhere" she instructed him with a loving smile.

"Where do you expect me to go like this?" he replied with a cheeky smile.

Shannon's smile disappeared as she said:

"You know what I mean".


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

**Disappointed at the lack of response on the last two chapters but please enjoy and review****‼****! **

Shannon closed the car door and slung her handbag over her shoulder. She walked quickly through the gates of the primary school just as the bell rang. She walked up to the kindergarten classrooms just as her daughter walked merrily out of the door talking and smiling with another girl.

When Bella saw her mother she quickly ran up to her and hugged her. Shannon picked up her daughter and returned her hug happily.

"Hi Mummy" Bella smiled broadly "how was your day?"

"Great sweetie" Shannon replied, taking her daughters hand and starting to lead her to the car. "Guess what?"

"What?" Bella asked excitedly.

"Daddy woke up today and he really wants to see you".

"Really?" Bella asked her eyes wide with joy. "Is he ok?"

"Of course honey, Daddy is fine and he really wants to see you, we are going to the hospital straight away, he's waiting for you".

….

Shannon gripped Bella's hand as she led her daughter down the hospital corridor towards Lawson's room.

"Now remember that Daddy is still weak and tired so no jumping and shouting ok?" Shannon paused and reminded Bella just before they walk inside the room.

"Ok" Bella nodded with a wide grin.

"Ok" mirrored Shannon, indicating with her head that Bella could go inside.

Bella smiled cheekily to her mother before she turned and ran into the room shouting "DADDYYY".

Shannon's stomach filled with dread as she quickly rushed inside and saw Bella jump up on the bed and collapse on top of her father, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his chest with a happy smile pasted on her face.

"Bella!" Shannon bellowed angrily, striding up to Bella.

But Lawson just laughed happily and returned his daughters embrace, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's ok" he chuckled stroking Bella's head.

"No its not" Shannon replied quickly glaring at Bella who had buried her face in her father's chest, hoping to hide from her mother's wrath. "You're still weak and I told her that she wasn't allowed to run or shout in here".

"Don't worry" Lawson chuckled "I'm just glad that's she's here".

Shannon let out a defeated sigh and sunk into armchair near the bed.

"Are you better Daddy?" Bella asked, looking up at her father's face.

"I'm still a little sick baby but I'm just glad happy you're here, I feel much better now that you _and _mummy are here" Lawson added giving his wife a grin.

Shannon couldn't help but return the smile as she watched happily as Bella nodded, satisfied with the answer, and sunk back into her father's embrace.

"Everything's going to be ok now" she thought to herself.

….

Shannon was walking up the corridor towards Lawson room blowing gently on a steaming cup of coffee when she heard laugher coming from the direction of her husband's room.

She picked up her pace and when she entered the room, she found Kerry, Josh, Stella, Michael and Christian all standing around Lawson's bed. They turned and greeted her as she walked in and Shannon saw that Lawson's bed had been cranked up so that he was sitting up with Bella beside him.

"So how are you feeling?" Josh asked, turning back around to his mate.

"Yeah I've had better days and waking up with the tube down my throat is defiantly an experience I'd rather forget" Lawson chuckled "but apart from this abdomen wound killing me- I feel alright".

"I'm sure Shan will take care of you" Michael said, looking at Shannon with a grin.

"Yeah right" Shannon laughed "I'm not going to be your personal maid" she told Lawson with a smile.

The group burst out in laughter.

"Ow" Lawson winced, placing his hand to the heavy bandages around his abdomen.

"You alright" Shannon asked quickly, the laughter and smiles disappearing in the room immediately.

"Yep" Lawson replied, inhaling sharply, "I don't think I can laugh just yet".

"You ok Daddy?" Bella asked quietly, looking up at her dad with wide concerned eyes.

"C'mon Bell's" Stella piped up offering her hand for Bella to take "how about we go with Michael to get an ice-cream?"

"Yeah" Bella agreed with an enthusiastic nod as she jumped off the bed and grabbed Stella hand.

"Thank you" Shannon mouthed to her friend as they walked out. Stella just nodded understandingly and the trio walked out of the room.

As soon as Bella had left the room, Lawson turned to Josh.

"Have you found who shot me?" he asked with a serious look on his face.

The whole room fell silent; Josh just looked down at the floor as he spoke

"Sorry mate, not yet".

"Don't worry Lawson" reassured Christian "I'm sure we'll get them"

Lawson flashed a tight smile back to Christian before exchanging glances with Shannon. He could sense her apprehensiveness.

"Do you know who it was?" he asked, turning back to Josh and Kerry.

"Yeah we have a fair idea of who the guys that were holding up the pub are and there is an ongoing investigation happening to make sure we catch whoever did this ok?" Kerry told Lawson firmly but she also glanced at Shannon as she was speaking.

"Anyway" Kerry said as her phone chirped, signalling a text message "I've got to get going. I'll probably come back tomorrow to see how you are Lawson".

Kerry said her goodbyes and was escorted out by Christian who had to get back home to his wife. As soon as the pair left the room, Shannon's face fell and she collapsed down into the chair near the window.

"You ok?" Lawson asked, looking over at his wife.

"Yep" she replied, giving him a brief tight smile and rubbing her forehead.

"It's just that just before, when we were talking about the person who did this to me…."

"Lawson…just STOP!" Shannon barked.

Lawson stopped dead and looked at this wife. She looked tired, stressed and he could see the exhaustion on her face.

"I'm sorry" she sighed slumping back into the armchair. "All this talking about you getting shot and finding the person responsible…it's just…"

"Well you can't pretend it didn't happen" Lawson said gently. "Because what happened can't be undone".

"You think I don't know that Lawson!" Shannon shrieked defensively sitting up straight in the chair. "Of course I know that's it's happened, I thought I'd collapse when I got the call that you'd been _shot._ I came to this hospital and saw you laying in that bed with a tube down your throat- a machine _breathing _for you. I had to explain to our 5 year old daughter that her father is in hospital and might not survive. I was scared Lawson! I was scared shitless! So _NO _I'm not pretending this hasn't happened, I'm just a little uncomfortable about the fact that I might have to face the person who nearly took everything away from me".

When Shannon finished speaking, she was breathing hard and her eyes were filled with tears. Lawson just sat, stunned and surprised at his wife's sudden outburst.

They stood silent for a few seconds, just staring at each other. Suddenly Lawson reached out and took hold of Shannon's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Without speaking, Lawson slowly shuffled over to the left side of the bed and with his free hand, patted the space next to him.

Shannon gave him a smile and climbed up next to her husband. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in the familiar scent of him mixed with the smell of the hospital gown. Shannon felt Lawson wrap his arm around her. She felt calmer and relaxed in his presence. She had missed the feeling of safety and serenity that he gave her. She buried her head deeper, wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, welcoming sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

A smile spread over Lawson face as she watched his wife sleep calmly next to him.

"It's probably the first time she slept properly since this all happened" he thought to himself "it's all my fault. I've put both her and Bella through hell". He glanced down at a sleeping Shannon, who had rested her head on his chest. Her lips had formed a content, peaceful smile and the colour had returned to her face. Lawson placed a small kiss on her forehead.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps was heard coming up the corridor and Lawson looked up at the door to see Stella holding the hand of a happy and excited Bella.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed "we're back!"

Lawson quickly placed a finger to his lips which quietened Bella immediately. She took a few steps forward, as did Stella.

"We have to be quiet Bell's, Mummy's sleeping" Lawson whispered. Bella looked at her mum and nodded.

"Is Mummy ok?"

"Of course sweetie, she's just really tired and having a bit of a rest, ok?"

"Ok" Bella nodded again.

"Lawson" Stella spoke up softly "do you want me to take Bella back to your house? I can stay with her until Shannon comes home".

"No it's ok Stell, just leave her with me"

"Sure?" Stella asked, glancing at a still sleeping Shannon.

"Yeah we'll be fine" Lawson replied, giving Stella a grateful smile.

Stella said her goodbye to both Bella and Lawson and left them.

"Bell's" Lawson whispered to his daughter "are you tired sweetie?"

Bella nodded and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Ok, come up here and you can have a nap with Mummy".

Bella climbed into the bed and lay down on the other side of Lawson, snuggling up and also resting her head on Lawson chest. Lawson placed his hand around her and brought her a little closer.

Shannon stirred slightly and peeked open her eyes. She saw Bella lying in front of her.

"Hi Mummy" Bella whispered gently, realising her mother's tiredness.

"Hey baby" Shannon replied, a tired and lazy smile forming on her lips. She closed her eyes and again and went back to sleep, the smile still playing on her lips. Bella followed suit and closed her eyes, snuggling in closed to her father.

Lawson couldn't help but grin and he looked down at both of his girls sleeping next to him.

"Even though it's like this" he thought "we are a family again".

….

_A few weeks later _

Lawson was sitting up in this bed at home, reading the news section of the newspaper. There had been a breakout at a Melbourne jail and the police were still looking two detainees.

"Will you _stop _looking through those papers" Shannon exclaimed entering the room and pushing the paper out of Lawson hands. "It will just make you feel worse" she said sitting down on the edge of the bed, next to Lawson.

"But I want to be out there" Lawson replied with frustration "I'm fine! I feel much better and I could be out there, helping the team".

"No way" Shannon said with a chuckle "you just got out of hospital a week ago. You heard the doctor, three more weeks at home and then two weeks light duties at headquarters".

Lawson muttered something angrily and reached for the newspaper again. But Shannon distracted him by reaching over and planting a long and hot kiss on her husband.

She pulled away and looked at Lawson "feel better?" she asked with a playful smile.

"You always know how to take care of me when I'm sick don't you" he laughed reaching forward for another kiss.

Suddenly Bella ran into the room, and jumped into the bed next to her dad.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, hugging her father tightly.

"Morning sweetie" Lawson smiled warmly at his daughter. "Ready for school?"

Bella nodded and grinned.

"We have to go Mummy" she said, turning to her mother "we'll be late!"

Shannon laughed and rolled her eyes at Lawson who just chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright alright" Shannon said standing up. "Give Daddy a kiss and let's go pack your lunch and we'll get going".

Bella gave Lawson a kiss ran out of the room. Shannon smiled and looked at her husband again. She bent down and gave him a loving kiss on the lips.

"Be back soon ok?"

"Ok" he nodded in reply.

…

Shannon turned the key in the lock and pushed the front door open.

"I'm back" she shouted as she dumped her keys in the bowl in the kitchen and took off her scarf and coat.

She walked into the kitchen and turned on the kettle.

There was still no reply from Lawson.

"Lawson?" she shouted again, confused and worried. She walked over to the steps and stood on the first one, looking up.

"Shan" she heard a weak reply. Her stomach dropped with fear and she raced up the stairs, worried about what she might find.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Shannon ran up the stair and immediately saw Lawson lying in the middle of the corridor, clutching his abdomen.

"Oh my god! LAWSON!" she shrieked, running up to him and crouching next to him. "What's happened? How bad are you hurt?"

"Fell over…" Lawson whispered, wincing as his face crunched up in pain.

"Here, c'mon" Shannon said gently as she took Lawson arm and slowly helped him up. She put his arm over her shoulder and led him into the bedroom where she gently helped into the bed.

Lawson sighed painfully as he closed his eyes and sunk into the pillow.

Shannon looked over him worryingly as she pulled the covers over him.

"Do you want me to call an ambulance, maybe you should get a doctor to check you over?" she asked quietly.

Lawson opened his eyes and looked up at his wife's concerned and scared expression. He gave her a weak smile.

"No" he answered.

"Are you sure?" she asked glancing at his stomach, which Lawson still had his hand over "maybe your wound should be looked over; the fall might have opened it".

Lawson continued to smile at his wife as he reached out and took her hand, giving it a rub. He looked at her admiringly and thought about how lucky he was to have such a caring and compassionate wife.

"No I don't want any doctors or hospitals" he told her. "If my wound was opened, wouldn't it be pouring blood? And wouldn't I be pale and unconscious?" he asked, still smiling.

Shannon returned her husband's smile and sat down next to him on the edge of the bed.

"Are you sure?" she asked gently, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Cause you look kinda pale and…."

"I'm sure" Lawson cut her off wearily and closed his eyes tiredly.

"Ok" Shannon whispered in reply. "I'll let you sleep, I'll just be downstairs, shout if you need anything, and don't even think about leaving this bed-because there will be trouble if you do" she told him with a small laugh.

Lawson just chuckled weakly in reply and whispered "ok".

Shannon stood up and placed a small kiss on Lawson forehead before turning and leaving the room. She glanced at her sleeping husband one last time before closing the door and heading back downstairs.

….

Shannon sipped her steaming coffee as she mindlessly watched TV.

"God these daytime shows are stupid" she thought to herself as she picked up the remote and flicked from channel to channel.

Finally she decided to turn off the television completely, stood up and headed for the kitchen. She rinsed out her mug and placed it on the drying rack. She was completely bored! Lawson was sleeping upstairs, she didn't want to disturb him, especially after the day he had had. She still had two hours before it was time to even leave the house to pick up Bella and the television wasn't doing a good job at distracting her.

Her stomach grumbled quietly and as stood and stared out the window to the backyard. Bella's swing set standing lonely, with the skipping rope lying on the grass, abandoned. Deciding she was hungry, she opened the fridge and started making herself some lunch.

It was like she was on autopilot, she didn't think, her body just moved and did what it needed to do. Shannon knew that she should've felt happy and peaceful. She had her husband back, sure his health could be better, but he was still alive, with her. Their beautiful daughter was growing up with two people who loved her. Bella was happy and healthy- what more did Shannon have to ask for? But still, she felt empty bored. Maybe it was time to get back to work?

Shannon finished making her sandwich and ate it, drowning it down with sips of cold coffee. After she finished she walked up the stairs to see how Lawson was going. She opened the door of their bedroom and found Lawson sitting up, leafing through a newspaper.

"Hey" she said as she walked through the door towards him.

"Hey" he greeted her, putting down the newspaper. Shannon was relieved to see his face had more colour and he didn't look in pain anymore.

"How you feeling?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"Better" he replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "I think the nap did me good".

"Does the wound still hurt?" she asked, glancing at his abdomen.

"Nahh, not at all. I bet that when I fell, the muscles just got a little sore, nothing's ripped or bleeding" he chuckled.

"Ok good" she returned the smile. "Well now that you're better, do you want some lunch?" she asked standing up and going over the window, thrusting open the curtains. The room was suddenly flooded with bright light and Lawson couldn't help but squint.

"Yeah sure" he said "what's on the menu?"

"Warmed up soup chicken soup from dinner last night" she laughed coming back around to Lawson and helping him out of the bed.

"Awwww" Lawson replied in mock disappointment.

"Don't worry" Shannon laughed "I'll make something nice for dinner. When Bella gets home, she can help me make spag bol".

"Well that will just make my day" Lawson laughed leaning in and kissing Shannon "dinner cooked by my two favourite girls".

"Don't push your luck" Shannon replied, giving Lawson another kiss. "Are you alright to come down?"

"Yeah yeah" he replied "you go ahead".

Shannon left Lawson and walked downstairs. She opened the fridge and got out the bowl of soup. She stuck it in the microwave and set the timer for 2 minutes.

Lawson walked slowly down the last step and slowly walked into the kitchen.

"Smells good" he grinned, standing in the doorway with his arms folded.

Shannon smiled back at him "go sit down" she instructed him "I'll bring it out to you".

Lawson turned around and walked out to the dinner table and sat down. The microwave timer went off and Shannon pulled out the bowl of soup and brought it out to her husband.

"Enjoy" she said, planting a kiss on Lawson's forehead. Suddenly Shannon squealed as Lawson grabbed her hand and pulled her down into his lap. He surprised her by planting a kiss on her lips which she eagerly returned. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him.

All of a sudden the phone started to ring. Shannon broke away and went to go answer it but she felt Lawson pulled her back towards him.

"Leave it" he whispered huskily to her, continuing to kiss her.

"No" she murmured breathlessly in between kisses "what if it's important?"

"It won't be" he replied. The phone stopped ringing.

"See?" he chuckled, starting to kiss her neck.

Shannon laughed but her laugher turned into moaning as Lawson continued to hungrily kiss her neck and lips.

A second later, the phone started to ring again. Both Lawson and Shannon groaned as they stopped kissing and stared at the phone, which continued to ring innocently.

Shannon stood up and picked up the receiver angrily.

"Hello?" she asked curtly.

"Ah hello" a woman voice answer "is that Sergeant Shannon Blake?" the voice asked.

"Yes" Shannon replied, her tone changing to interest.

"My name is Senior Sergeant Jade Merion"

"Umm ok" Shannon replied, confused. What was a strange cop doing calling her at home when she was on leave? "How can I help you?"

She looked over at Lawson who was giving her a questionable look, asking who the caller was. "It's a cop" she whispered to him. This got Lawson interest and he stood up and walked over to Shannon, trying to listen in to the phone conversation.

"I'm really sorry to have to tell you this" Merion said slowly as Shannon felt the fear creep into her stomach.

"What?" Shannon asked "what is it? What's happened?"

"Sergeant" Merion paused "your daughter is missing. We think she was kidnapped".


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Shannon dropped the phone from her ear and put her arm by her sides as she stood frozen to the spot, trying to process what Merion had just told her.

_Bella…kidnapped…_

The thought just raced through her head repeatedly like a broken record.

Lawson, seeing his wife's expression glanced from the phone to Shannon's vacant, pale face. He grabbed the phone from Shannon and placed it next to his ear.

"Hello? My name is Senior Sergeant Lawson Blake….what's going on?" he asked confused.

"Senior Sergeant, your daughter, Arabella is missing".

"What?" Lawson shouted angrily. "How the hell did that happen? _Why _did it happen?"

"We got a call from Arabella's school half an hour ago when she didn't come back to the classroom after lunch break. We think she might have been kidnapped".

"_By who?"_ Lawson asked incredulously "_who _would want to_ kidnap _a five year old child?"

"We think this incident might have something to do with your shooting" Merion explained to him.

Lawson glanced speechlessly at his wife. Shannon was standing frozen, staring at the ground with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Ok, so what do you want us to do? What are you doing to get my daughter back?" he demanded.

"Right now, we need and your wife to get down to your base" Merion explained "your boss, Inspector Vincent has been briefed, she will tell you everything you need to know at his stage, we'll be in contact with you soon".

"What..." Lawson started but was cut off by the dial tone. He walked over and slammed the phone into its cradle, exhaling angrily.

His small innocent daughter was missing…..kidnapped….when he got his hands on the bastard responsible…

He was brought out of his raging thoughts by the sound of Shannon sobbing. He glanced up at his wife and saw the tears rolling down her cheek as she sobbed heavily, still frozen.

He walked up to her and brought her into a comforting embrace. She buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed violently as Lawson gently stroked her head, trying to comfort her, but feeling exactly the same way.

"It's going to be ok" he whispered to her. "We'll get her back- I promise".

"Someone's got her Lawson" she replied in between sobs. "Some strangers got my baby and their holding her, like some kind of trophy".

"I know" he sighed "look" he said, pulling her back and looking into her tear filled blue eyes "they want us to get down to base- we can find out more then".

"She'll be scared and alone Lawson" Shannon said shakily as another tear rolled down her cheek.

"I know" he replied "but we'll find the bastards who have done this ok? And we will get our daughter back, c'mon".

Shannon gave a small nod, wiped her eyes and followed Lawson out the door.

….

The whole car trip was spent in silence, with Shannon sniffling every so often. She couldn't bear to look at the empty booster seat which sat in the back. Normally Shannon would be laughing at the sound of Bella trying to sing along to the Wiggles or Hi-5, occasionally making up her own lyrics when she had forgotten the lyrics. It was memories like this that made Shannon want to burst into tears again.

Lawson looked directly ahead, concentrating on getting to base ASAP. He shouldn't have been driving yet, but with Shannon in such a state, he had mindlessly grabbed the car keys and jumped into the driver's seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Bella's car seat and thought back to the day when they had jumped into the car one Sunday and gone to the beach. They had all had a fantastic day, just frolicking in the surf, splashing and mucking around. They had been sitting on the sand under the shade of a tree with Bella building a sandcastle. Lawson had leant in and kissed Shannon lovingly, Bella had seen them and started giggling, prompting them to all burst out in laughter. The sound of his daughter's laughter echoed inside Lawson's head as he turned into the driveway of the TR base.

They both got out the car silently and started for the Intel room. Shannon grabbed Lawson's hand which he gently squeezed, some form of reassurance.

Kerry appeared in front of them as they walked into the room. Everyone seemed to turn and look at them, giving them pitying looks.

"Hey guys" Kerry greeted them soberly, flashing a tight smile. Lawson managed to mirror her expression but Shannon just stood stone faced, glancing around the room.

"What are you going to get her back?" she asked, quietly, through gritted teeth, turning and glaring at her boss.

Kerry glanced at her before turning and leading them toward Leon who gave them a smile and turned back to face the multiple monitors before him.

"This is the lapel cam footage of Lawson's shooting" Leon started to explain, indicating to one screen where the video was playing. The picture paused with the image of a man holding a gun at the camera.

"That's the guy who shot you Lawson" Kerry explained, indicating to the paused picture "we've I.D'd him as a Lucas Vendome".

"The coward who ran away" Lawson scoffed angrily, glaring at the picture.

"Yeah….." Leon said uncertainly before turning and beginning to type on his keyboard. Another video, this time a CCTV clip began playing on the next screen. It showed a middle aged man with a cap on, dump a bag inside a garbage bin. He looked around and the tape was paused by Leon just as the man's face was in view of the camera.

"Well who's that?" Lawson asked impatiently.

"That's John Harvey, the other guy who was robbing the pub at the time of your shooting. There he is getting rid of the weapon used on you" Kerry explained.

"And?" Lawson demanded, his voice and temper rising "what the hell does any of this have to do with my daughters _kidnapping_".

"We think that they are the ones behind it" Leon replied, his voice quiet and small.

"_What!" _Lawson exclaimed his voice louder "_why? WHY_ would two idiots and cowards like those two, kidnap a five year old child?"

Everyone in the room turned and stared at Lawson as he shouted.

"Vendome might have been the coward who ran away after shooting you" Kerry explained calmly "but Harvey is a little more hardcore than that. Vendome was just his 'helper'- _he _was the one who had to hold the gun and pull its trigger, take the blame, while Harvey was going to walk away with the takings. Things went bad when you guys turned up, you got shot and Harvey let Vendome take the blame. He's one smooth operator; he calculates every single detail and plans all of his jobs well".

"So?" Lawson asked, gritting his teeth angrily "that was my shooting weeks ago, what's the connection to Bella? Why would this Harvey guy take her?"

"To make sure we keep our mouths shut" Kerry replied simply.

Lawson just stood dumbfounded and stared at his boss, confused.

"To make sure we- or you, don't prosecute" Kerry added "you're a cop Lawson….."

"Thanks for stating the _obvious _Kerry" Lawson scoffed.

"Yeah, well shooting a police officer is worse- Harvey doesn't want the trouble. Bella is the insurance to make sure nothing happens- to him or his reputation".

Lawson paused and took in all the information, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind.

"How are you going to find her?" Shannon asked quietly, speaking for the first time. "Where is she?" she added, her voice shaking. Lawson quickly walked over to her and put his hand around her shoulder, rubbing her upper arm comfortingly. He planted a gentle kiss on her head.

Kerry and Leon glanced at each other.

"What?" Shannon asked desperately, her eyes welling with new tears.

"Well…" Kerry answered slowly "I'm sorry Shannon…..we don't know".

Shannon couldn't stop herself as she burst into violent, shaking sobs and collapsed into a heap on the floor, sobbing and wailing uncontrollably. Lawson bent down next to her and wrapped his arms around his wife, allowing her to bury herself in him.

"Shhh" Lawson comforted his wife, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back as she continued to cry. The sound of his beautiful wife crying so painfully pierced Lawson heart. He glanced up and saw that everyone in the room was almost surrounding them. Stella had covered her mouth with her hand, shocked to see her close friend in such a state. Christian and Michael were standing nearby, concerned expressions pasted on their faces. Josh just looked at his friend and nodded once giving his mate a look that said "we'll get the bastards who've done this".

Lawson wrapped his arms around Shannon's shoulder and head, bring her closer to him and shielding her vulnerability from the prying eyes of everyone around them.

He glared up at Kerry, who was looking down with a face mixed with shame and concern.

"Find our daughter" he demanded angrily.

….

**I hope you are enjoying…..please review****‼****! Don't forget to make suggestions or leave me ideas for future chapters…I need all the help I can get****‼**


	12. Chapter 12

**There isn't much action in this chapter…more of an emotional chapter, exploring emotions of both Lawson and Shannon as well as Kerry. **

**Enjoy****‼**** But please remember to review ! **

Chapter 12:

Kerry looked on sadly as Lawson slowly lead a still sobbing Shannon to the change rooms to clean up. Her mind wandered back to when James had been in trouble and couldn't help but feel determined. Even though she had been feeling exactly the same as Shannon back then, she still got her child back, and now she was determined to get Bella back for Shannon. It was a mother thing.

She turned around and was faced with a large group of people who had gathered to watch the scene.

"Don't you all have work to do?" she snapped angrily "you don't get paid to stand around" she added with a glare.

The group dispersed immediately and Kerry stalked up to Leon, who had raced up in front of Kerry and had plunked himself at his desk just as she got to him.

"Leon" she leaned over him angrily "I don't give a crap what you get, but _please" _she added with a hint of desperation in her voice "just get something- find that little girl. I'm chaining you to that desk until you get something. If I hear that you have moved, then you'll find your head through a wall".

Leon didn't reply, just gulped and nodded in understanding and turned to his monitors, his fingers typing furiously on his multiple keyboards.

Kerry sighed deeply as she straightened herself and she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked around and saw everyone suddenly look down, pretending to work. They were all interested in what was happening and what had caused one of their officers to break down. Kerry knew that Shannon and Lawson wouldn't want everyone knowing, so she gave them all threatening glares and stalked off towards the changing rooms.

As she arrived at the door of the rooms, Lawson came out. He closed the door behind him and leaned back on it. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the door, exhaling deeply. Kerry could see the exhaustion plainly on his face and she could help but let the pity set in again. She walked a few more steps and stopped in front of him. Lawson opened his eyes and looked blankly at his boss.

"How is she?" Kerry asked, jerking her head towards the door.

"Bad" he replied simply. "Real bad. She still in there cleaning up, but she won't stop crying, I think it's just all setting in" Lawson explained, rubbing his forehead with his hands.

"Do you want me to go in?" Kerry, glancing at the door.

"If you want to try, go ahead. If you can get her to calm down- it would be a miracle" Lawson said, his hands"

"I don't know what to do anymore Kerry" he told her, his eyes gleaming with desperation and confusion. "Everything is just a big, stupid, bloody mess…..when I get my hands on the person responsible…" he said, trailing off, his fists clenching.

"Hey hey" Kerry said firmly "you can let yourself be blinded by revenge, it doesn't help anyone" she told him "trust me- I know" she added with a dry laugh.

Lawson looked up at his boss "so what do you expect me to do?" he asked angrily "just sit back and wait, while my daughter is out there somewhere, scared and alone…"

"No" Kerry replied simply. "Be there for Shannon, she needs you. This has affected her badly, she a mother, and having your child taken from you is the worst feeling any mother can go through".

"Speaking from experience?" Lawson asked.

"Yes I am" she replied immediately. "I went through the whole James thing alone, but Shannon _has you _Lawson. So you need to support her and let her know that you are there for her. You _need_ to be strong enough for the both of you, sure you might be angry, God knows I was, but you need to take that anger and put it into helping Shannon, yourself andBella! You're still recovering from everything _you _have been through, and getting sick again isn't going to help anyone, not Shannon and _especially _not Bella! So you need to get off you high horse and just do what you can here!" she added angrily.

Lawson looked up at his boss and she saw that she had glazed eyes and a saddened expression on his face.

"Don't tell me my speech was _that _moving!" she joked.

Lawson smiled and sighed deeply, blinking back the tears.

"Look why don't you go help Leon get something" Kerry suggested "I'll take care of Shannon".

Lawson looked back at the door of the change rooms hesitantly.

"Go" instructed him with a nod "I'll take care of her" she reassured.

He gave his boss a grateful look before walking off towards the Intel room.

Kerry exhaled sharply before pushing open the door of the change room.

She closed the door behind her and walked in to find an empty room.

"Shannon?" she called softly. No answer. She called again.

She paused and in the silence she heard a gentle sob. She continued deeper in the change room and found Shannon. She was sitting in the corner with her back against the wall and her arms around her knees. She head was down and Kerry could her quiet sobs.

Kerry felt pity creep in and she went over to sit down next to Shannon.

Shannon lifted her head up as she heard Kerry walked towards her. Her eyes were red and puffy and full of tears. Her cheeks had marks where the tears kept falling.

"Hey" Kerry greeted her as she sat down.

Shannon didn't reply, just looked at her boss as another tear trailed down her cheek.

"How you going?" Kerry asked softly.

"Lawson send you in?" Shannon asked blankly, turning her head and staring directly ahead, her arms still around her knees.

"No" Kerry replied "I wanted to come in. I wanted to see how you are".

Shannon scoffed wiped a tear that was halfway down her cheek. "How do you think" she asked angrily, turning and glaring at her boss.

"Look Shannon" Kerry began, sighing deeply "I know how you feel".

Shannon couldn't help but scoff again and return to looking into thin air in front of her.

"No I do" Kerry replied firmly "when James went missing, it was like my entire world had crashed down. He _is _my entire world, and no mother should have to experience those feelings- hopelessness, sadness, fear, anger….it like a dangerous cocktail swirling inside of you and you just don't know what's going to happen next".

Shannon continued to stare ahead but she also began to nod her head in agreement.

"And that's the worse isn't it?" Shannon asked turning and facing her boss. "The not knowing?"

Kerry just nodded and gave Shannon a small smile. Kerry placed her hand around Shannon's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"It's going to be ok" Kerry told her. "We are going to find her".

Shannon looked down at her hands and nodded sadly. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and gave her boss and grateful smile.

"How's Lawson?" she asked in concern. "I know I should be worried about him too, but it's just….."

"He gets it" Kerry interrupted quickly. "He understands why you feel this way, he does, but he just doesn't know how to help you" Kerry explained "he feels helpless and scared and I think he's turned those emotions in anger- which isn't good for himself or you or Bella".

Shannon listened to her boss and nodded. She was agreeing with everything that Kerry was telling her. Lawson had just gotten out of hospital and she understood that all these strong emotions weren't good for his wellbeing.

"What do I do Kerry?" Shannon asked desperately. "I don't know what to do, I'm completely lost! My brain just doesn't work anymore".

"You both need to sit down and talk it all out" Kerry told her. "He wants to be there and support you, so you need to let him. You are both going through this together, Bella needs both of you to be strong. But don't forget to help him too. Let him know that all this anger and bottling up, isn't helping anybody- that man needs to learn to be more open" she said with a small chuckle.

Shannon couldn't help but laugh but it turned out more like a snort because of her blocked nose. Kerry pulled out a tissue and handed it to Shannon.

Shannon gave her boss a grateful smile as she took the tissue and wiped her nose.

"Oh and one more thing" Kerry added.

"Yeah?" Shannon asked, looking up.

"_No more tears_" Kerry told her with a gentle smile. "Tears don't do anything- trust me- I know".

"Ok" Shannon replied with a small chuckle.

Kerry helped Shannon up and they both walked out of the change room together. As they both walked up the corridor, Shannon turned to her boss.

"Did everybody see my breakdown before? Do they know what's happened?" she asked with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"Look don't worry about all that" Kerry replied, waving her hands "only myself, Leon, Stella, Michael and Christian know the _full _story. But how about you just focus on talking to Lawson and getting your daughter back, she's gonna need you when we get her back. I'll deal with the stickybeaks".

Shannon gave Kerry a grateful smile and they continued to walk up the hallway when suddenly Lawson came out of door behind them.

"Shan" he called out as he took a few steps towards her.

Shannon turned around and walked back towards her husband. When she got to him, she paused in front of him.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

Shannon didn't reply, she just reached up and planted a kiss on his lips before giving him a warm hug, burying her head into his chest. Lawson rested his head on hers and closed his eyes, welcoming her warmth.

Kerry couldn't help but smile as she watched on.

"What's going on?" a voice asked over her shoulder. Kerry swung around and saw Leon standing behind her.

"Uhh" Kerry replied, glancing between Leon and Shannon and Lawson. "They are just sorting something's out".

"What have you got?" Kerry turned fully around and looked at Leon with interest. "I told you that you were chained to that desk until you found something" she reminded him with a glare.

"Well then I guess I'm lucky I've found something, aren't I?" Leon replied with a grin as he lead Kerry back to the desk to show her his finding.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

"So what have you got?" Kerry asked Leon as he sat down in his chair.

"Well I've looked up a few more known associates of Lucas Vendome and John Harvey and someone that popped up in both searches was this guy- Phillip Andres" Leon explained, pointing to a mug shot of a third man.

"So what his connection to Bella's kidnapping?" Kerry asked.

"Well I triangulated his mobile number it turns out that either he or his mobile are at an old warehouse that used to be his meeting point with Vendome back in the day" Leon told her, with a proud smile, happy with his finding.

"Great Leon" Kerry exclaimed with a smile, "I'll get a team out there for surveillance, see if they can sniff something out. See if you can get any eyes on the place" she instructed Leon as she started walking out.

Leon nodded and turned back to his computers. Kerry continued out in to change rooms and gather Stella, Josh, Christian and Michael together for a debrief. She explained the new information that Leon had found and showed them the location of the warehouse on a map, instructing them where to put the cameras and where to look.

"So that's everything guys" she finished "let Leon know when you've got eyes and _be careful"_.

"What's going on?" Lawson interrupted, walking into the briefing room with Shannon and seeing the team gathered around.

Kerry explained Leon's new information to him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded angrily "give me 5 mins to change and get my gear" he instructed Josh and the team as he turned to leave the room. Shannon stood beside him, gazing around the room, looking flustered.

"You know I can't let you do that" Kerry interrupted him, walking up to Lawson and talking in a quieter tone. "You can't go out there" she reminded him gently.

"Why not?" he demanded, leaning in closer to Kerry and speaking in an angry whisper. "It's _my _daughter!"

"That's exactly why" Kerry told him "its conflict of interest and you _know _that Lawson, you know I can't send you out. And you just got out of hospital a week ago after a near fatal _shooting_! What kind of boss would I be if I let you jump back straight into the heavy stuff?" she demanded, returning the angry tone.

"Remember what we just talked about" she asked, her voice even quieter as she glanced towards Shannon, who was standing behind Lawson, looking on with both concern and interest.

Lawson didn't reply, he just exhaled angrily, gave Kerry a glare and returned to Shannon, who looked up at him with worry. Shannon put her arm around his waist and rested her head on his upper arm, trying to comfort him and disperse some of his anger.

Kerry looked at Lawson for another second, making sure he had calmed a little before she turned back to the team, who had been looking on at the previous scene with interest.

"So you all know what you have to do" she told them "go and do it!"And with that, she dismissed them and they all walked out of the room. Josh and Stella paused before walking out and stopped in front of their friends.

"We'll get her back mate- we'll do everything we can" Josh reassured Lawson, giving him a clap on the shoulder. Lawson gave his mate a small grateful smile in return before Josh walked out after Michael and Christian. Stella leaned in and wrapped her arms around Shannon, pulling her in a friendly, reassuring hug, which Shannon returned. As Stella pulled away, she gave Lawson a brief smile and walked out after Josh.

Left alone, Shannon pulled Lawson into a hug. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the calming sound of his heartbeat for a few seconds.

"I think it's all going to be ok" she told him tenderly, still listening to his heartbeat.

Lawson listened to his wife's words. He closed his eyes and rested his head on tops of hers.

"I hope so" he sighed.

…

"Arriving at the warehouse now Leon" Stella said into her radio as TR1 pulled up outside an old, derelict warehouse on the edge of Melbourne.

"Copy that" Leon replied "I've only got one CCTV feed of the place, it's of the back of the warehouse" he told them "and I can't get any floor plans of the place- too old- sorry guys, looks like you're going in blind".

"Received" Josh said. "We are going to have a look around and put up some cameras Leon, we'll let you know when we get a feed".

"Sure".

The team walked around the perimeter of the old warehouse, their weapons drawn the entire time. Every so often, Stella and Christian placed wireless cameras, some on windows, to get a look inside and some directing outside.

Back at base, Lawson and Shannon walked hand in hand into the Intel room, standing quietly at the back, watching Leon and Kerry as well as the computer screens intently, hoping to pick up some information.

"Perimeter secure" Josh's voice crackled over the radio "there's nobody here Kerry".

"Ok Josh" Kerry said into the earpiece "go back to the entrance, time to get inside".

"Copy that".

Lawson watched Josh's lapel camera vision with interest as he and the team walked back towards the entrance of the warehouse.

Christian handed Josh the bolt cutters and Josh clipped the lock and chain on the front open as the team bustled into the warehouse, only to find it empty. There were boxes and old machinery parts along the sides up otherwise nothing!

"Ok let's have a sniff around, keep your weapons drawn" he instructed his team all they all moved out.

Josh was searching a small room, looking through a few of the boxes when he heard a quiet rustling noise come from the next room.

Drawing his gun in front of him immediately, he slowly and quietly walked into the other room. When he arrived though and saw what was in there, he lowered his gun and stood frozen, staring confused at his finding.

"Kerry…" he said slowly into his radio after a few seconds. Lawson and Shannon couldn't help but take a few steps closer with interest as Josh's voice came over the radio.

"What Josh?" Kerry replied with intrigue, "What have you got?"

"You won't believe this"


	14. Chapter 14

**This is it guys….the chapter you have been waiting for…..please enjoy! Don't forget to review****‼**** ENJOY! **

Chapter 14:

Sure enough, hiding underneath a bunch of empty boxes was Bella.

She must have thought that Josh was one of the guys who had taken her because she was obviously trying to hide and she was shaking. She had her arms around herself and she was crouched on her side.

"Bella….." Josh called out to her softly and crouching down at her eye level. "It's me…..Joshie….everything is ok now sweetie, you're safe"

Slowly, Bella uncurled herself and peeked out from her hiding spot.

Josh felt the pity creep inside him when he saw her. Her hair was dirty and messy. She had a tear in her blue school dress which was also filthy and she had a bad scrape on her right knee which was pouring blood down her leg. Josh could tell she had been crying from her red face and red, puffy eyes. A tear was still rolling down her cheek as she looked at Josh. It took her a second to register who he was, but when she finally recognised him she ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Joshie" she cried into his shoulder "I want my mummy and daddy"

"They are waiting for you" he replied softly, lifting her up and cradling her in his arms. Bella just buried herself in him and allowed him to carry her to safety.

…..

"Oh my _God_‼" Kerry exclaimed into her earpiece, glancing up at a concerned looking Lawson and Shannon. "Alright, just get back here, _quick__‼__" _

Kerry took out her earpiece and exhaled deeply. Shannon and Lawson watched her intently.

"What's happened?" Lawson asked her impatiently.

"Ahh" Kerry began, speechless in shock "I don't know how this is even possible…."

"It's bad isn't it?" Shannon asked shakily, the tears already starting to form.

"No no" Kerry replied quickly, "they found her!"

"What!" Shannon asked, speechlessly. She looked up at Lawson who stood frozen, also speechless, staring at his boss.

"They were searching the inside of the warehouse and there she was…hiding under some boxes" Kerry explained. "At first she didn't recognise Josh, but now they are bringing her back" she told them, smiling at Shannon, tears forming in her own eyes.

"Well is she ok?" Shannon asked tearfully.

"Apart from a scrape on her knee, that should get checked out in hospital, she's fine. She's a little dirty, but otherwise fine!"

"Oh my God!" Shannon exclaimed happily, wiping away the tear rolling down her cheek. Shannon glanced up at Lawson, who still stood frozen, letting it all sink in.

"So she was there alone? They just _left her there?" _Lawson demanded, this teeth gritting and fists clenching.

"We don't know the full details of what's happened yet" Kerry explained, seeing that Lawson was getting angry. "But yes, she was at the warehouse alone when they found her".

"Lawson" Shannon sighed, looking at her husband with frustration "can't you see, none of that matters, we've got our daughter back, she's alive and that's all that matters" she said with a small smile.

"Yeah I agree Lawson" Kerry added "just focus on Bella, she's going to need the love and support of both of you to overcome this trauma, she _needs you"_.

Lawson couldn't help but nod in defeat and give his wife a tight smile. He _was _glad that Bella was found safe and sound, but he just couldn't shake the weird feeling in his stomach.

_Why had they just left her in that warehouse alone? Who had even taken her in the first place? Why? What did they have to prove by taking a poor innocent child? _

Those questions rattled around in his brain while he, Shannon and Kerry waited in the car park for TR1 to come back with his daughter.

….

As soon as TR1 pulled up in the car park, Shannon ran up to the car and opened the back door.

"Mummy!" Bella cried happily as soon as she saw her mother. Shannon quickly unclipped her daughter's seatbelt and picked up her daughter, giving her a warm hug. Shannon couldn't contain herself as the tears of joy fell down her face. She kissed her daughter on the cheek and forehead repeatedly, thanking God in her head for bringing her daughter back to her.

Lawson walked up to his wife and child. When Bella saw her father, her eyes brightened up immediately.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, reaching out for him to take her. Lawson took his daughter and hugged her warmly. All his previous anger and anxiousness seemed to disappear as she held his beautiful daughter in his arms and hugged her. After a few seconds Lawson pulled back and took in his daughter's appearance. Her hair was dirty and messy, her school dress, ripped and her knee bleeding.

"Are you ok honey?" he asked her gently.

Bella nodded once blankly and started running her hands over Lawson cheeks, as if reminding herself what Lawson looked like. Shannon took a step forward and hugged both Lawson and Bella.

"I think everything is going to alright now, don't you honey?" she asked, smiling tearfully at Bella.

"Yeah I reckon you're right" Lawson replied returning the smile and kissing his wife on the forehead as he took his free arm and placed it around Shannon's waist, bring her closer.

They were a family again.

…

Shannon smiled sadly as she watched her daughter sleep soundly in the hospital bed. They had driven down to the Children's Hospital to get Bella checked out. As a precaution, the doctors had run a few tests to make sure she wasn't dehydrated and that everything else was in order.

Lawson stepped into the room and came over, placing his arms around his wife from behind. Shannon laughed softly as she felt Lawson place his arms around her waist and kiss her on the neck. She turned around to face him and kissed him tenderly on the lips before resting her head on his chest.

"We got her back Lawson" she sighed happily.

"Yeah we did" he replied gently.

"I knew we would" Shannon said looking up at him with a smile. "This whole thing has made us stronger"

"Excuse me?" a female voice interrupted them softly.

Lawson and Shannon turned to find a young female doctor standing in the doorway. She gave them a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Dr Wyatt, I'm the doctor looking after your daughter, Arabella" she explained. Both Lawson and Shannon greeted the doctor and shook her hand.

"I was wondering if we could have a chat outside." Dr Wyatt asked, glancing behind Lawson and Shannon at a sleeping Bella.

Both Lawson and Shannon followed the young doctor just outside the room into the hallway.

"How is she?" Shannon asked with concern.

"Physically…..fine!" Dr Wyatt replied "She isn't dehydrated and the minor scrape on her knee has been cleaned up and bandaged…"

Lawson could sense hesitance in her voice.

"But…..what else?" he asked, concerned.

Dr Wyatt sighed and glanced from Shannon to Lawson.

"I'm just concerned about Arabella's mental state" she explained. "This has been a very traumatic experience for a 5 year old child to go through, being kidnapped, and from what I understand; it was from her _school, _which makes it worse".

"So….?" Shannon asked "what should we do?"

"Well has she talked about what happened?" Dr Wyatt asked.

Both Lawson and Shannon shook their heads.

"We only just got her back, our team only found her just over an hour ago and we brought her straight here" Lawson explained.

"Ok" Dr Wyatt replied "that's fine. I feel that maybe getting Arabella to talk to a councillor or someone might help her overcome the mental trauma of something like this".

"But she's only _five" _Lawson exclaimed. "Wouldn't talking about all this actually make her feel worse, bringing up the memories and stuff?" he asked.

"Well it's your choice, as her parents, you have to make the decision" the doctor told them "that is just made my recommendation".

Lawson and Shannon thanked the doctor who gave them a smile before they said goodbye. They walked back into Bella's room and glanced at their peacefully sleeping daughter.

"What do you wanna do?" Shannon asked her husband. "Do you really think she needs to see someone?"

"I don't know" Lawson replied, sighing. "Maybe if she was older, counselling would be useful, but she's only a _child_ Shan…would it be good for her to talk about that trauma, it's basically _forcing _her to relive it all!" he added.

"How about we hold off on the counselling for now?" Shannon asked "for now, she seems alright, maybe if she needs it later on, we can arrange something?"

Lawson nodded and turned to his wife, giving her a loving smile.

"How did I get so lucky?" he asked her.

Shannon didn't reply, she just returned the grin and pulled him into a tender kiss.

"I might go get some coffee" he told her as they pulled apart. "Want one?"

Shannon nodded and watched him leave the room before turning and walking to the window. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed as she looked out at the sun setting over the Melbourne skyline.

"_What a day!" _she thought to herself.

Suddenly a blood curling scream filled the room. Shannon turned to see Bella trashing around in her bed, crying and screaming….

"_Mummy_‼‼‼"


	15. Chapter 15

**So happy with the overwhelming response with the last few chapters…..keep it up and I'll try and keep the story as interesting as possible….lol **

**Please review….feel free to leave suggestions or ideas for future chapters!**

Chapter 15:

Shannon rushed over to Bella and gently tried to shake her awake.

"_No, please no" _Bella murmured, her voice quivering with terror. "_I want my Mum, Mummy!". _

Shannon watched fearfully has her daughter, still asleep, cried out.

"Wake up honey" Shannon coaxed "it's just a bad dream, Mummy's here".

But Bella continued to trash and turn in her bed. She was trying to get out of Shannon's grip, thinking that her mother was one of her kidnappers.

"_Leave me alone!" _she cried, wriggling "_Mummy__‼__"_.

Shannon didn't know what to do, Bella was still firmly asleep, but the nightmare she was having was affecting her badly.

Shannon stood up and rushed to the doorway.

"I need some help in here" she shouted. A moment later, a nurse came into the room.

"She's having some sort of nightmare" Shannon explained, indicating towards Bella, who was tossing and turning, murmuring something incoherently. "I've tried to wake her, but…she just won't calm down".

"Ok" the nurse nodded "I'll have to give her a weak sedative".

"Ok" Shannon nodded quickly "just _do_ _something_".

The nurse raced out of the room and returned a minute later with a needle which she injected into Bella's arm. A few seconds later, Bella's crying and murmuring stopped as she fell quiet and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

"'I'll get Dr Wyatt to come and look her over" the nurse, whose name was Emma, said gently.

"Thanks" Shannon replied with a grateful smile.

Just as Emma left the room, Lawson walked in with a confused look on face, holding two coffees.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned, putting the two coffees down on the table.

"She had a nightmare" Shannon told him, tears welling in her eyes.

"What?" Lawson asked, dumbfounded.

"I think she dreamt she was back _there_" Shannon explained quietly "she was screaming '_no, please no' _and she was calling out for me Lawson".

Lawson sighed and pulled his wife into a hug which she returned eagerly and buried herself in him.

"It was horrible" she whispered to him "she wouldn't wake up and she just kept calling to me, and I couldn't do anything to help her. What if that's what it was like when she was taken and they were holding her? What if she had been calling for us? We didn't help her!"

Lawson pulled out of the hug and placed one hand on her shoulder and using the other hand to lift her chin so that she looked at him.

"We can help her now" he told her gently but firmly "we've got her back and we have to do everything to help her _now_. It's going to be ok. It will be tough, but we _will_ get through this!"

Shannon gave her husband a grateful smile and hugged him. Lawson rested his head on hers.

"So how is she?" he asked.

"The nurse had to come in and give her a sedative" Shannon told him. "She's going to call Dr Wyatt up again to check on her".

"Ok" Lawson replied.

Shannon broke out of the hug and looked up at Lawson seriously.

"Maybe we should get that counselling for her" Shannon told him. "What happens next time she had another one of these nightmares? There isn't always going to be a nurse standing by with sedatives".

Lawson looked at his sleeping daughter and sighed. He looked back at Shannon and nodded in agreement.

"How about we talk to the doctor when she comes back and see from there?"

Shannon nodded and gave her husband a grateful smile.

….

"I think she will be ok" Dr Wyatt said, placing the stethoscope back around her neck. "Her heart rate is up a little, but that's expected after the anxiety and panic that she's been through".

Both Lawson and Shannon sighed silently in relief.

"Have you thought more about the counselling idea?" Dr Wyatt asked. "After this episode, I think it's become more important. This probably won't be the only time she's going to have nightmares".

Lawson nodded in agreement. "We think we might give it a try" he explained "and just see how she reacts to it".

Dr Wyatt smiled and nodded approvingly. "Good idea" she smiled. "It's for the best".

"Mummy!" Bella murmured quietly.

Shannon rushed to Bella's bedside and leaned down over her daughter.

"I'm here baby" she replied softly, brushing some stray hairs behind Bella's ears and stroking her forehead gently.

Bella took Shannon's hand and grasped it tightly. Dr Wyatt glanced from Shannon to Lawson.

"I'll organise a counsellor to come and talk to you sometime tomorrow" she told them before excusing herself and leaving the room.

Slowly, Bella opened her eyes and looked tiredly from her mum to her dad.

"Are you tired honey?" Shannon asked Bella quietly, who nodded slowly in reply. The sedatives were still having an effect on her.

Shannon carefully lifted Bella out of the bed and cradled her in her arms. Bella rested her head on Shannon's chest and closed her eyes.

Shannon walked over to Lawson.

"Why don't you sit with her for a bit?" she asked "I might pop home and bring her pyjamas, her teddy, some other toys and maybe some proper food."

"Yeah sure" he replied, nodding. Shannon handed Lawson a sleeping Bella and kissed Lawson tenderly on the lips before grabbing her handbag and walking out.

…

Shannon walked back into the hospital room an hour and half later to find Lawson sitting in the armchair in the corner. Bella was sitting cradled in his arms, both father and daughter fast asleep. Bella had rested her head on Lawson's chest while Lawson had wrapped his arms around his daughter tightly.

Shannon couldn't help but smile lovingly at the pair, who slept peacefully. She walked into the room and placed the overnight bag she had brought, full of Bella's clothes, toys and freshly made chicken & corn soup on the table.

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate, signalling that she had received a voice message. Shannon grabbed her mobile and walked out into the hallway. She listened to the message and heard Kerry's voice on the other side.

"_Shannon, its Kerry, I'm sorry to be calling, especially after everything that's happened today. But we have some more information about Bella's kidnapping. I thought it would be better to call and tell you this first, without Lawson- you know how he gets. Call me when you get this. Thanks bye!" _

Shannon couldn't help but feel interest and anticipation creep in after hanging up. She immediately called Kerry back.

"_Hello?"_ Kerry voice picked up.

"Hi Kerry, its Shannon, I just got your message".

"_Hey Shannon, how's Bella?"_ she asked.

"She's ok' Shannon replied "she's having nightmares about what happened. We're getting a counsellor to come talk to her" she explained.

"_Oh I'm sorry to hear that, send her my love"_

"I will" Shannon replied "anyway, you said in your message that you've got some new info about Bella's kidnapping?" she asked anxiously.

"_Yeah_" Kerry told her hesitantly "_we found CCTV vision from a camera on a street near Bella's school. The vision shows how they took her…."_

"And….."

"_They tried to coax her to come with them over the fence, but when that didn't work, they just grabbed her, put a hand over her mouth and jumped into a nearby van and drove off"_ Kerry explained cautiously.

"Oh my God" Shannon exclaimed quietly, placing a hand over her gaping mouth in shock.

"Do you know who it was?" she asked, quietly.

"_We've matched the plates of the van to a suspect_" Kerry told her. "_I'm sorry, I can't tell you anymore_" she added apologetically "_I just thought you had a right to know"._

"No its ok" Shannon told her "thanks for letting me know" she added gratefully.

"_No problem" _Kerry replied "_I'll keep you posted if anything else comes up". _

"Thanks Kerry"

"_Oh and Shannon?" _Kerry added quickly "_be careful if you decide to tell Lawson, I know you are going to want to be honest but just be careful, you know how he gets. Don't know what he could do". _

Shannon nodded understandingly "ok thanks Kerry" she said before hanging up.

Shannon paused and sighed before she turned and walked back into her daughter's room.


	16. Chapter 16

_**I know that it's been a WHILE since I last update. But this is the final chapter. Please enjoy and review.**_

Chapter 16:

….

3 months later….

Shannon smiled warmly as she watched her daughter play with her friends in the backyard. It was Bella's 6th birthday party and it was the first time that Bella seemed completely normal, trouble-free and content with other children. The last few months had been pretty hectic for Bella and her parents, but countless counselling sessions and doctor's visits after her ordeal, she seemed to be coping ok. Shannon and Lawson were both unsure of whether Bella had been able to deal with her trauma, every time they thought she would be ok, a nightmare or flashback brought their hopes crashing down. There had been a number of dramatic events, one time, Bella left a counselling session kicking and screaming after a terrifying flashback had plagued her memory.

Shannon was particularly hit hard by these events. It hurt her deep to see her child in so much pain, and there just couldn't do anything to help daughter. Shannon took a few days a week off work to spend them with Bella, taking her to and from school and the doctors. Bella's treat for putting up the counselling sessions was frequent trips to the TR base. She spent hours sitting with Leon, laughing and being silly with him. When shifts ended, she enjoyed piggy backs from both Josh and Christian and hugs from her father. Everyone was trying their hardest to help Bella through her trauma.

A few weeks after Bella had been rescued from the warehouse, TR had managed to catch up with the perpetrators, who were charged with kidnap and a string of other offences. But for Shannon, justice could never be done for her daughter who was going to live with the memories forever. She could keep taking Bella to counselling and trying to keep her happy and smiling, but how long was that going to last? Bella was going to have to live with the terror for the rest of her life.

So here Shannon stood, watching her six year old daughter playing and giggling with her friends, having a great time, like nothing had happened.

"Everything alright?" she heard a voice ask behind her. Shannon turned to find Lawson glancing at her, his face filled with genuine concern.

Shannon just gave a tight smile and a nod "I _hope _so" she told him sadly.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a sigh.

"I just don't know if she's coping with this all Lawson" Shannon explained.

"Well she seems fine" Lawson replied reassuringly "look at her, she's having a ball".

"Yeah I know" Shannon smiled, glancing behind her shoulder at Bella, who playing in the corner of their small backyard "but when this is all over, how do we know how she is really feeling?" she demanded, her eyes starting to water.

"Because she is just as tough as her mother" Lawson told her simply, a wide smile forming on his lips. He wrapped his arm around her hip and brought her closer to him, planting a small kiss on her head. "She isn't alone in this, we will help her get through it".

"Yeah" Shannon replied softly, turning back and watching her daughter with a smile.

Lawson placed his arms around her stomach and resting his chin on her shoulder. Shannon leaned back into him and smiled wider, content with having her husband's arms around her. She felt warm and safe with him around her.

"I love you" Lawson whispered into her ear, kissing her neck. "I have to be the luckiest man in the world".

"Really?" Shannon raised her eyebrows playfully, glancing up at her husband. "How do you figure that?" she asked with a smile, turning back and watching the party.

"Well" Lawson replied cheekily, leaning down and planting small kisses on his wife's neck and jawline "I've got a smoking wife, who is a great cop _and _has given me a beautiful daughter. Both of you are my world, nothing else matters now that she exists, now that we are a family".

Shannon leaned back and looked up at Lawson properly, taking in his words. She reached up and stroked his cheek. "Both of you are my world too" she whispered, her eyes watering. She reached up and kissed him deeply on the lips.

"Cut it out you two" Josh interrupted with a grin walking up to the pair "this is still a children's birthday party".

Lawson laughed and nodded "we'll keep it G rated", he put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Where's Tash?" Shannon asked with a smile, taking her drink from a nearby table and sipping it.

"She just had to finish up a couple of things at the hospital, she said she'll be here soon" Josh explained, sipping his own beer.

"Is it a good idea for her to be driving" Lawson asked "in her condition?"

"She's seven months pregnant" Josh laughed "not immobile".

"Exactly" Shannon nodded "I was driving just a few days before I had Bella, remember?" she lifted an eyebrow and looked at her husband "you men think that just because we are pregnant, we become vegetables with 'baby brain' and the only thing we can do is sit and incubate".

"I'm sorry" Lawson laughed, lifting his hands again "I'm just looking out for my best friend's girl".

"Speaking of, when's the wedding?" Stella asked, leading Michael by the hand as the pair walked over and joined the conversation.

"We're going to wait until the baby is born" Josh told her "we want to get all of that sorted before we do anything about the wedding".

"Well what about you?" Shannon asked, indicating to the diamond engagement ring sitting on Stella's left hand "when are you two _finally _getting hitched?" she smiled, raising her eyebrow.

Stella looked at Michael, squeezing his hand "we were thinking in the new year sometime, we love each other, there is no rush" she smiled and reached up for a kiss.

Shannon mirrored Stella smile and glanced behind the group at her daughter. Everything was perfect, she had Lawson, they were married, happy and still very much in love, and now they had Bella, the most perfect thing in the world.

Everything will be ok, she thought to herself. Everything will be just fine.

….

…

Three weeks later.

…

"Shannon?" Lawson called, closing the front door behind him. "I'm home!" he told her.

"I'm upstairs" she called back.

Lawson walked down the hall into the living room. Bella was sitting at the dining table, her colouring book open and crayons spilled everywhere.

"Hey baby" he whispered, bending down kissing his daughter's head.

"Hi Daddy" Bella replied, giving her father a glance before returning eagerly to her colouring.

Lawson just smiled and walked up the stairs to find his wife.

"Shannon?"

"In the bathroom" she replied.

He walked through the bedroom and into their small ensuite and looked at her with confusion.

"Is everything ok?" he asked her, worry etched into his face.

"Yeah" she grinned, walking up and kissing him deeply on the lips, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Wow" he whispered when they broke apart, "what was that for?" he smiled.

"I love you" she shrugged, backing away and leaning against the sink, a playful smile lingering on her lips.

Lawson laughed and leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and returning the bright grin.

"How was your day?" she asked him.

"Pretty standard" he shrugged "Just a couple of minor incidents, we had to help the uniforms chase down some idiot who drove away from an RBT. Josh invited us over on the weekend for a barbeque, he said….".

"I'm pregnant!" Shannon interrupted. Her face was blank, waiting and gauging for Lawson's reaction.

It took Lawson a couple of seconds to process what she had just said.

"You're….."

"Pregnant" Shannon finished for him with a nod. "I'm pregnant".

"Pregnant" he breathed, looking at the ground in surprise.

"Yes Lawson!" she snapped "I'm pregnant, you know when a man and a woman have sex and…."

"Yes I know what happens" he stopped her.

"So…" Shannon said softly "what do you think?"

"I think…" Lawson paused and smiled "I think, we're pregnant!" he exclaimed with a bright grin, walking over to her and hugging her tightly, lifting her up and spinning her around the room. Shannon laughed and squealed when Lawson spun her around.

"We're having a baby" he whispered, putting her down and looking into her eyes.

"A little baby, a brother or sister for Bella" she nodded, stroking his cheek.

"Why are you screaming Mummy?" Bella interrupted, walking into the room with a frown.

"Bella" Lawson said, holding out his hand to her "come here". Bella walked over and Lawson lifted her up. "We've got a surprise for you" he told her.

"Is it a pony?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

Both Shannon and Lawson laughed. "No baby" Lawson replied, shaking his head "it's not a pony".

"Oh" Bella looked down at the ground with disappointment. "What is it then?" she asked, looking at Shannon.

"You're going to get a little brother or sister" Shannon smiled, walking over and rubbing Bella's cheek.

"What?" Bella frowned in confusion.

"Mummy is going to have a baby" Lawson told her. "You are going to be a big sister".

"Does that mean I get to boss them around?" she asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement. Her parents both starting to laugh again.

"We'll see about that" Lawson brushed some hair out of Bella's face and kissed her forehead.

"Ok" Bella nodded and started to giggle. Both Lawson and Shannon couldn't help but start laughing too. Lawson put his arms around his wife and pulled her closer, kissing her cheek.

"I love you so much" he told her.

"I love you too" she replied, kissing his lips.

"I love you too" Bella interjected innocently. Lawson and Shannon laughed again.

Things were better, the future looked bright and their family was growing, everything was perfect.

….

… …

**So there it is, more than year after I first published and update this fic, its finished. I really want to thank all those who have followed this story. It means a lot knowing that what I have written has been enjoyed by readers, thank you again . I really hope that you have enjoyed this final chapter, please don't forget to leave me a review. Thank you! **


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